Pictured above: Berkley Santos slides into second base for a double in the Renville County Muskratsí opening round game of the Region 5 Tournament against Burlington. The tournament was played in Surrey July 22nd to the 26th.

The 2015 American Legion Section 5 Baseball Tournament was held in Surrey on Wednesday, July 22nd through Sunday, July 26th, with a play-in game on Tuesday, July 21st. Teams participating in the tournament were Shiloh (Bismarck) Capitals, Burlington Bulldogs, Garrison-Max Titans, Hazen Post 189 Astros, Hettinger Post 115, Kidder County Post 231, Renville County Muskrats, Stanley Blue Jays, and Surrey Blue Sox.

On Tuesday, July 21st, the play-in game had Stanley beating Hettinger to move into tournament play on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Opening round games were played on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Game 1 of the tournament had Kidder County playing Stanley, with Kidder County coming out on top 5 to 2.

Pictured above: Talon Thompson was the starting pitcher for the Muskrats in their loser-out game against Garrison-Max.

In game two, the Renville County Muskrats battled the Bulldogs from Burlington. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Burlington came across with a run. Burlington then added another three runs in the bottom of the fifth and a run in the bottom of the sixth to put the Bulldogs up 5 to 0. Renville County rallied in the top of the seventh and managed to come up with five runs on four hits and a walk to tie the game up at 5 all. Burlington came back in the bottom of the seventh to score the walk off run with two outs, for the 6 to 5 win.

On the mound and taking the loss for Renville County was Connor Brackenbury, who pitched 5 1/3 innings and recorded 7 strike outs. He was relieved by Chase Gates. Behind the plate and catching was Doug Winzenburg.

For the game, Renville County scored 5 runs on 7 hits, committed 8 errors, and left 8 runners stranded on the bases. Burlington finished the game with 6 runs on 4 hits, committed 1 error, and also left 8 runners stranded on the bases.

Other first round games had Hazen edging Surrey 5 to 4; and Shiloh came from behind to beat Garrison-Max in nine innings, 13 to 12.

Tournament played continued on Thursday, July 23rd with two loser-out games. The first loser-out game had Surrey eliminating Stanley by the 10 run rule in 5 innings, 10 to 0.

Renville County then matched up with Garrison-Max. The Titans took an early 10 to 0 lead, as they scored three runs in the bottom of the first and another seven runs in the bottom of the second. The Muskrats then got on the board as they came up with three runs in the top of the fourth to make it a 10 to 3 game until the bottom of the fourth when Garrison-Max added another run. The Muskrats managed to come up with another run in the top of the seventh to make it an 11 to 4 game, eliminating Renville County from further tournament action.

Losing pitcher for Renville County was Talon Thompson, with Isaac Undlin in relief. Catchers were Doug Winzenburg and Talon Thompson.

Doug Winzenburg, catcher for the Muskrats, leads off at second base in Renville Countyís opening round game against Burlington. Also pictured is Coach Roger Erickson.

The Muskrats finished the game with 4 runs on 5 hits, committed 3 errors, and left 10 runners stranded on the bases. Garrison-Max scored their 11 runs on 8 hits, committed 5 errors, and left 7 runners stranded on the bases.

Two games were played in the winnerís bracket with Hazen beating Kidder County by a run, 13 to 12; and Shiloh beat the host team, Surrey, by a score of 2 to 1.

Tournament action continued on Friday, July 24th. The first two games were loser out games, with Kidder County defeating Garrison-Max by the 10 run rule, 12 to 2; and Surrey eliminated Burlington, 9 to 7. Hazen and Shiloh then battled it out in a semi-final game, with Shiloh handing Hazen their first loss of the tournament, beating them by a run, 2 to 1.

On Saturday, July 25th, two loser out games were played, with the two winners earning the right to advance to the State Tournament. Kidder County won their game 6 to 3 over Hazen; and Shiloh beat Surrey 11 to 4.

The championship game was played on Sunday, July 26th. Kidder County came into the title game with one loss and Shiloh had not lost any games. Shiloh kept their tournament record unblemished, as they beat Kidder County in just one game for the title, beating them 6 to 4.

Both Kidder County and Shiloh will represent Region 5 at the North Dakota State B American Legion Baseball Tournament, which is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29th to Monday, August 3rd at Lamoure.